Bono reveals his special love for Steven Spielberg’s work in the Surprise Berlin Tribute Speech

U2 frontman Bono made a surprise appearance at the Berlin Film Festival on Tuesday night to honor Steven Spielberg as the film director received the Honorary Golden Bear for Lifetime Achievement.

The rock star who was at the festival for the last few days for the world premiere of the documentary film U2 – Siege Of Sarajevo kiss the futurerevealed a special love for Spielberg’s work.

“There are many reasons why people love Steven Spielberg. They are all valid. Here is mine. It’s very personal, but I’m short of two vodkas, so I’ll share it with you,” Bono said at the awards ceremony.

He dubbed Spielberg’s 1974 drama Sugarland Expressstarring Goldie Hawn as a woman who takes a police officer hostage in a desperate attempt to reunite with her son before he is deported, as a film that holds a special place in his cinematic memory.

“The whole situation becomes a media sensation when they kidnap a policeman and the world waits and sees what will happen,” said Bono.

“It’s a very Spielberg-like situation. In the cinema, in the “womb” with a view that is cinema. I look at the mother’s face and it is projected 30 feet up. The mother is played by the wonderful Goldie Hawn, but I only see my own mother as I saw her as a child, gigantic, imperfect.

“I cry even though my heart is filled with joy, because I know my own mother will always look for me. This is pure cinema. No, it’s pure Spielberg. The noun already becomes an adjective.”

Bono suggested that there was something otherworldly about Spielberg.

“He is out of this world. He’s not really a celebrity, is he? Thank the Lord for that. We know he’s one of the biggest big names in Hollywood, but we feel like he doesn’t quite belong there and we’re kind of relieved,” he said.

Refers to Spielberg’s 2001 film AIBono raised the main character of the young robot David, who is programmed to show unconditional love with unexpected consequences.

“In AI., the boy is a machine that develops a soul so that he can love his mother again. In the machine that is Hollywood. Steven Spielberg is the soul of the machine and ladies and gentlemen, it is good to honor this historical figure here in this most historic city, Berlin,” he said.

Bono said Spielberg has spent much of his career delving into the past to take a closer look at what scares him in the present, citing films such as Schindler’s list, realm of the Sun, Private James Ryan, Amistad, Lincoln And Color Purple.

He also brought up Spielberg’s latest semi-autobiographical film The Fables

“The critics love this autobiographical angle and so do I. I only agree with one suggestion that Steven Spielberg finally told his own story with this film. He was telling his own story the whole time,” Bono said.

Previous recipients of the honorary award include Dustin Hoffman, Oliver Stone, Sophia Loren, Catherine Deneuve, Kim Novak, Shirley MacLaine, Kirk Douglas, Robert Altman, Jack Lemmon and Meryl Streep.